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February 4, 2000In the eighth chapter of this letter, Paul has been answering the second question that the Corinthians had posed to him: was it appropriate for Christians to take part in dinner parties where the meat that was served may have been sacrificed to idols? (In a pagan city like Corinth, much of the food consumed could have passed through pagan religious ceremonies before it found its way into the marketplace.) Paul tells them that, since there is no reality to pagan gods, eating meat sacrificed to them has no religious meaning for a Christian believer. At the same time, some less sophisticated believers could be scandalized by even this apparent, though remote, participation in pagan rites. It would be better for the "knowledgeable" believers to forego their "rights" out of respect for the tender consciences and spiritual needs of their brothers and sisters.
At the beginning of chapter 9, Paul intends to strengthen his teaching about sensitivity to others’ needs by invoking his own example of giving up his "rights" for the sake of the spiritual well-being of those he serves. He wants to make the point that he has the right to be provided with a living for preaching the gospel, but instead has chosen to support himself and not take any recompense from his young Christian community. This practice of his seemed to have been a source of contention in the church of Corinth, and so Paul’s simple example turns into a complicated defense of his own mission and of his approach to that mission. Paul seems to have been very sensitive on these matters. We find similar defenses of his apostolate in the second letter to the Corinthians and in the letter to the Galatians.
Apparently some people said that the reason why Paul did not accept any payment for his services was because he really wasn’t a true apostle and so didn’t have a right to payment anyway. He defends his apostolic calling at the beginning of chapter 9 and then goes on to offer a whole series of reasons why he could lay claim for sustenance on the Corinthians if he wished. He has rights just like everybody else, and is free to invoke those rights, but he freely chooses not to exercise them. In our passage for today he explains why. The explanation is typically complicated and passionate.
I don’t preach the gospel because I have chosen to do so, he says, but because I have been called by God. I am under obligation to Him. If I preached on my own volition, the preaching itself would be my reward. But it wasn’t my idea. God gave me a job to do, a "stewardship." Doing what the master demands doesn’t merit any special "reward." If there is to be a reward, there has to be some further, spontaneous quality to my service, and that quality is my willingness to give up the support that might otherwise have come to me as part of my service. I have chosen to forego my "rights" and offer the gospel free of charge as a little something extra for God. I don’t have to do this, but I do it in order to be as accessible and available as possible to those to whom I preach, to be their slave, as it were, their companion in weakness and limitation and need. It makes the gospel more credible, and gives me a better chance to share in its blessings.
Most priests of today would resonate in several ways with Paul’s devotion to his calling, his response to the "stewardship" he had been given. First of all, the vast, vast majority of priests are happy in their priesthood and they wouldn’t want to be doing anything else. They might prefer a different assignment, but not a different vocation.
In addition to that, priests of today, like Paul, find fulfillment and strength in the people they serve. The greatest blessing they find in their ministry is the men and women to whom they minister. People vary from parish to parish and their needs and sensitivities are different at different times. But priests know that their people need them and appreciate them and respond to them and this constitutes one of the major gifts of their priestly ministry. They are happy to serve, and find ever greater happiness in their service. Their priestly ministry provides its own reward. Their share in the promises of the gospel consists in "becoming all things to all in order to save at least some."
All this is not to say that contemporary priestly ministry is effortless or without problems. After all, Paul had his problems, too. Sometimes questions arise about working conditions and retirement, about the way assignments are made, about how certain situations ought to be addressed. Sometimes priests find themselves in conflict with certain members of their flock, who seem to go out of their way to make things difficult. Paul experienced that, too. But in spite of all this, like Paul, they continue to preach the gospel because they have been called to preach it and they are grateful for the call.
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Conversation Questions.
What priests do I admire? Why?
How does the ministry of priests enable all the members of the Church to preach to gospel?
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